Is the Cure more Damaging than the Disease?

[Darield]

This was a question that was asked in another post. I have included links to information sources which are either government links or well known sites. I have included any comments in parenthesis.This post in no way suggests that I do not think Social Distancing and other protective measures are not an important part of helping keep this virus’ numbers as low as possible. As mentioned in at least one other post, I am concerned that the numbers don’t add up when shutting down our entire country possibly leading to the worst recession of our lifetime if not worse.

As of 4/18/2020 10:27 am the Covid-19 stats in the United States are:
717,825 cases
34,022 deaths
(approximately 1/3 of cases and deaths have occurred in New York)

Influenza deaths. (In Comparison)
Disease Burden of Influenza | CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/index.html)

Average number of deaths per year calculated over the last 3 years is 45,400 per year. 2,150,000 are estimated to get the flu every week during flu season.

(Not in at least the last 50 years has there been a suggestion that the entire country should be shut down.)

Alcohol related deaths
Alcohol Facts and Statistics | National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) (https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/alcohol-facts-and-statistics)

An estimated 88,000 people (approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women) die from alcohol-related causes annually, making alcohol the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States.

And yet the governor of Colorado listed liquor stores as an essential service after briefly trying to close them. Denver liquor and marijuana stores classified as 'essential' businesses, will be open during coronavirus outbreak | TheHill (https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/489376-denver-liquor-and-marijuana-stores-classified-as)

Tobacco use related deaths
https://www.cdc.gov/healthreport/publications/compendium.pdf
480,000 deaths cause every year.

(Cigarettes have not been banned.)

Second-hand smoke causes more than 41,000 deaths a year.
Health Effects of Secondhand Smoke | American Lung Association (https://www.lung.org/quit-smoking/smoking-facts/health-effects/secondhand-smoke)

(Parents are still allowed to smoke with children in the house.)

Education
As much as 50% of students are not participating in online learning during Stay a Home.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/us/coronavirus-schools-attendance-absent.html

Children and Malnutrition
Widespread school closures mean 30 million kids might go without meals.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/14/widespread-school-closures-mean-30-million-kids-might-go-without-meals.html
22 million children in the United States rely on the free or reduced-price lunch they receive at school, and every one of them is eligible for free breakfast as well.
https://www.nokidhungry.org/who-we-are/hunger-facts
https://thecounter.org/summer-hunger-new-york-city/


Domestic Violence
Since Stay at home orders domestic violence has become an “opportunistic infection”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/world/coronavirus-domestic-violence.html

https://thehill.com/homenews/news/492506-domestic-violence-cases-surge-amid-stay-at-home-orders

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/police-see-rise-domestic-violence-calls-amid-coronavirus-lockdown-n1176151

Suicide Rates – large increases expected
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/acquainted-the-night/202003/will-covid-19-make-the-suicide-crisis-worse

[DianeM]

This was a question that was asked in another post. I have included links to information sources which are either government links or well known sites. I have included any comments in parenthesis.This post in no way suggests that I do not think Social Distancing and other protective measures are not an important part of helping keep this virus’ numbers as low as possible. As mentioned in at least one other post, I am concerned that the numbers don’t add up when shutting down our entire country possibly leading to the worst recession of our lifetime if not worse.

As of 4/18/2020 10:27 am the Covid-19 stats in the United States are:
717,825 cases
34,022 deaths
(approximately 1/3 of cases and deaths have occurred in New York)

Influenza deaths. (In Comparison)
Disease Burden of Influenza | CDC (https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/index.html)

Average number of deaths per year calculated over the last 3 years is 45,400 per year. 2,150,000 are estimated to get the flu every week during flu season.

(Not in at least the last 50 years has there been a suggestion that the entire country should be shut down.)

Alcohol related deaths
Alcohol Facts and Statistics | National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) (https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/alcohol-facts-and-statistics)

An estimated 88,000 people (approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women) die from alcohol-related causes annually, making alcohol the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States.

And yet the governor of Colorado listed liquor stores as an essential service after briefly trying to close them. Denver liquor and marijuana stores classified as 'essential' businesses, will be open during coronavirus outbreak | TheHill (https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/prevention-cures/489376-denver-liquor-and-marijuana-stores-classified-as)

Tobacco use related deaths
https://www.cdc.gov/healthreport/publications/compendium.pdf
480,000 deaths cause every year.

(Cigarettes have not been banned.)

Second-hand smoke causes more than 41,000 deaths a year.
Health Effects of Secondhand Smoke | American Lung Association (https://www.lung.org/quit-smoking/smoking-facts/health-effects/secondhand-smoke)

(Parents are still allowed to smoke with children in the house.)

Education
As much as 50% of students are not participating in online learning during Stay a Home.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/us/coronavirus-schools-attendance-absent.html

Children and Malnutrition
Widespread school closures mean 30 million kids might go without meals.
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/14/widespread-school-closures-mean-30-million-kids-might-go-without-meals.html
22 million children in the United States rely on the free or reduced-price lunch they receive at school, and every one of them is eligible for free breakfast as well.
https://www.nokidhungry.org/who-we-are/hunger-facts
https://thecounter.org/summer-hunger-new-york-city/


Domestic Violence
Since Stay at home orders domestic violence has become an “opportunistic infection”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/06/world/coronavirus-domestic-violence.html

https://thehill.com/homenews/news/492506-domestic-violence-cases-surge-amid-stay-at-home-orders

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/police-see-rise-domestic-violence-calls-amid-coronavirus-lockdown-n1176151

Suicide Rates – large increases expected
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/acquainted-the-night/202003/will-covid-19-make-the-suicide-crisis-worse

Thank you for some truly interesting facts. I’m at the point of “I just don’t know how great an idea this was for the whole country”.

[graciegirl]

I wonder when all of the facts are clear and when we are able to access this situation accurately, what the numbers will say. I think that the damage to the economy is very grave. I hope that perhaps some good will come of it and people will learn in the future to save no matter what. I hear that people cannot save, living from paycheck to paycheck...but I see the same people with expensive and to me unnecessary items and using services that to me are not as important as knowing that if some disaster struck they would not immediately be financially devastated. But I was born in 1939. A common wedding gift in my neighborhood was a basket of groceries. We all are who we are according to what we have seen and experienced.

[JimJohnson]

I support this post.

[Two Bills]

Too much? Too little? Who honestly knows the answer?
Whatever the authorities do, they are damned.
The main fact of this virus is that its potential is unlimited without some control.
There is no positive treatment, and limited resources for its care.
Most people will recover if they catch it.
Oldies, especialy those with underlying conditions are the most vulnerable.
Even the 'experts' are only banging their own drums, and definitely not all playing the same tune.
The biggest problem as I see it, is that politics is heavily involved, and that means rationality is going to be the loser.
Gone are the days of consensus, these are now the days of confrontation.
So who does the person in the street put their faith in?
We are putting ours in the two people who got us this far in the last 80+years.
Ourselves!
Stay well.

[xNYer]

The whole WORLD is reacting to this new virus, and taking it very seriously. You are not taking it as seriously. That is your opinion. I don't agree.

I totally agree with you. As of yesterday Covid -19 had been the leading cause of death every day since April 7.
This death rate has been occurring in spite of the major social isolation efforts. Can you imagine the number if we had been less aggressive in this regards. Death statistics regarding it always trail statistics of those who have caught it, since obviously, deaths occur a couple of weeks after being infected.
Most projections only go through the first wave which is anticipated to end in August. Without a vaccine and continued social isolation efforts there is expected to be a second wave sometime in the fall. No one knows what the final outcome will be.

No one is happy about the statistics which cause deaths due for other reasons, but that shouldn’t be a reason to diminish what’s is going on now, particularly here in The Villages with the oldest demographic in the U.S.